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East Chicago is Drowning in Lead and The EPA Is Nowhere to Be Found

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Well it looks as though the residents of East Chicago are going to be the victims of an ongoing campaign to marginalize them from the federal level right on down. Trump and Co. are silent while toxic water flows into the mouths of infants and the Pruitt led EPA is sitting on its hands.

The EPA has told the residents of East Chicago that the water they drink and the ground they walk on is toxic, but that is as far as the assistance goes. East Chicago is the home of an EPA Superfund site, though past some warnings and signage there is little evidence of official action.

US Steel had a smelter in East Chicago, and as a result of that industrial activity the entire area is unfit for human life. Due to the high levels of lead and arsenic contamination the mayor has been pleading with anyone who will listen for help, but up to this point the only groups that have stepped into the breech are non-profit legal entities.

In a reassuring sign the new Governor of Indiana has agreed to declare a state of emergency in East Chicago, an action that now vice president Pence refused to take just a few short months ago.

The water in East Chicago is poison, and the sitting vice president didn’t intervene on behalf of the poorest members of the nation when he had the chance. It should be no surprise that the Pruitt led EPA has done nothing to help the residents of this blighted region, and we can all wonder if it would have been declared a Superfund site at all under his “leadership”.

This is a clear case money being put before life and the people behind it are despicable.

East Chicago needs federal help now.

These are some of the poorest people in the United States and they are being poisoned via a program of negligence and indifference.

We should expect this kind of behavior from a man like Scott Pruitt. This is a man who fought to poison the people of Oklahoma for years, so that he could stuff his pockets with filthy money from corrupt energy companies.

The only thing that can be said in defense of Scott Pruitt is that he didn’t actively profit from the poisoning of the innocent people in this situation, and for him that is a first. We can only wait for some crackpot in the Trump administration to begin trumpeting the glorious benefits of lead for human health.

In all seriousness, this is a crime against humanity and there should be criminal charges involved.

I am referring to the President of the United States, and Scott Pruitt, both of whom have the legal duty to protect the innocent lives of civilians.

To those of you who are making a difference in East Chicago, may the road rise to meet your feet.

[via huffingtonpost]

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1 COMMENT

  1. And where was this righteous indignation when 0bama was in power ? Don’t blame President Trump when your very own democrat politicians have done NOTHING for YEARS !

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